1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of expanding a gel material.
2. Description of Related Art
Gels have been used for a variety of applications, such as sealing, encapsulation, acoustic isolation or damping, insulation, and the like. Properties which make gels valuable in such applications include their conformability, adhesion to a wide variety of materials, and re-enterability.
Because of their tackiness, gels can be difficult to handle. For certain applications, it may be desirable to be able to place the gel more or less at its final desired location, and then expand the gel to its full void-filling or gap-bridging size.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a gel material which can first be emplaced in its use location, and then be expanded to its final location.